This application is directed to an educational tool, and more particularly, to an eraser element for use in erasing markings on chalk boards and white boards.
In many elementary school classrooms, each student often has an individual chalkboard or whiteboard in order to help them to respond, in written form, to questions posed by the teacher. Writing on a chalk board or white board is carried out by using either chalk (for the chalk board) or a marker (for the white board) and then erasing what has been written by means of some type of eraser mechanism.
In some situations, the student will erase by using his or her finger to clean the board. However, this is disadvantageous since the student's fingers will likely become black from erasing what the student had written with the marker.
While there are various eraser products available in the marketplace, none is desirable for a student who has behavioral issues or who is otherwise difficult to control. For example, miniature erasers, smaller versions of the ones used on chalk boards, are readily available, which enables each student to have his/her own personal eraser. However, the use of a personal eraser is disadvantageous as students are likely to throw them around in a classroom, distracting the student from his work and causing the teacher to have to frequently retrieve and clean up the thrown eraser.
Another option is to use cut-up pieces of felt. However, this is less than desirable since the felt material can be easily lost by the young student.
A further option is to use erasable markers that have an eraser built in on the cap. The problem with using such erasable markers is that these are substantially more expensive to purchase than ordinary markers. In the school setting, young students often do not replace the cap on the marker, causing the marker to dry out. Therefore, the marker has to be replaced often, and if it is more expensive, the cost incurred is substantially increased.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an eraser mechanism for boards such as chalk boards and white boards that overcomes the above disadvantages.